Dear Gunnar, Nina and friends,

thanks, Gunnar. I have missed out one of your points. It has been
quite some time since I last read about Catholic theology. What I
meant is that niraya is similar to purgatory in that both are not
eternal. But, you are right that otherwise purgatory is very
dissimilar to niraya, especially the theory that "believers go to
purgatory, the rest go to hell" (non-believing is the greatest sin).

I am wondering if we should leave niraya untranslated. Please advise.


metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Gunnar Gällmo wrote:

> As for the term 'purgatory', Nina, I understand that in Catholic
> theology hell and purgatory have different meanings. However, I
> am treating them as equivalents. Also, in Buddhism, any hell is
> purgatory.

I don't think that is correct. "Purgatorium" comes from "purgare",
which means "purify". In the Buddhist view of samsara, there is no
guarantee whatsoever that incredible suffering will make you pure. It
will use up a lot of akusalavipaka, true, but it will also give you a
lot of opportunities to make new akusalakamma. Suffering can very
easily give birth to hatred, which gives birth to new suffering, and
so on and so forth in a vicious circle.